Legal Disputes in the Music Industry

In the music industry, it is fairly common to hear about or know someone who has entered into a legal dispute. Whether it is about distribution rights, a copyright claim or a contract, they are all matters that can greatly delay if not end your career in the industry. This post provides 3 articles that provide examples of popular artists and the lawsuits they've recently dealt with. I feel that as inspiring artists, bands and music industry professionals, we can all learn from these court claims.


The first legal dispute that I’d like to discuss is about hip-hop star DMX. He recently had a dispute about the distribution rights over the release of his latest album. The lawsuit is about music industry executives who represent DMX’s label, and an entertainment company. According to the article, it seems that the music industry executives continue to interfere with the distribution of the album even though Seven Arts is the “original rights holder”. My opinion about this dispute is that DMX’s party needs to respect the entertainment group who has legal rights over his album. Although they were in the process to obtaining those rights, legally those rights did not belong to them. Therefor, I think that the entertainment group is entitled to seek the injunction against them.

The next article is of rapper Kanye West and a copyright suit. The claim was against his “Stronger” single, saying the he copied the name. The counterclaim was that it was based off of the quote “That which does not kill us makes us stronger”. They also included Kelly Clarkson’s song “Stronger”, and the conclusion was that the quote has been used repeatedly in song lyrics in the past century. My opinion on this infringement is that a lot of the pop songs on the radio recycle, and sample several sources. There is rarely anything original, so to claim that some one has stolen your lyrics is pointless. Especially when the source of the claimer’s lyrics are questionable.

The final dispute is about Beyonce and a video company who sued her for leaving a project undone. Basically, she didn’t comply with the contract rules according to the video company. My opinion on this matter greatly depends on the terms that were stated in the contract. Beyonce’s party claim that the video company was not able to comply with the financial aspects of the contract, therefor they were in the right term to leave. If the contract clearly states that Beyonce was to comply regardless of the financial standards of the company, then this dispute will more likely go in favor of the video company.

This is just 3 examples from millions. As you can see, even the most successful artists and professionals who have been in the music industry for more than a decade can still get caught up in legal matters.